Mavic 2 Pro- Nav Lights turn off at 20% battery level?

[CaptPete]

Hi all, had a tree landing which could have been completely avoided in hindsight, but this is what happened...

I was just finishing a slow, stationary horizon pan at night and I got the low battery (25%) warning. I wanted to stay another 20 seconds to finish the shot, so I did, then manually returned the drone to the landing zone, but there was a problem. The navigation lights were no longer functioning so drone was completely dark and I could not see it. There are electrical service lines within 40 ft of the landing zone, and they are about 40 feet high, and there is also a road nearby with traffic at the time. Being able to hear, but not being able to see the drone, I panicked a little, and instead of zooming the GPS map and use that to get closer, I just steered away from power lines and road, and while I am still hoping to visually locate it, it goes into auto landing mode. I could clearly see it activate the landing LED before it landed in the top of an Oak tree. It was easy to locate as all the lights were flashing again, and I retrieved it early next morning as there was no rain in the forecast, and it had sustained zero damage, other than having run the battery completely flat. The battery did recharge, but not sure how it affected capacity.

Any insight into the nav light issue is appreciated!

 

[JSmith731]

Hi all, had a tree landing which could have been completely avoided in hindsight, but this is what happened...

I was just finishing a slow, stationary horizon pan at night and I got the low battery (25%) warning. I wanted to stay another 20 seconds to finish the shot, so I did, then manually returned the drone to the landing zone, but there was a problem. The navigation lights were no longer functioning so drone was completely dark and I could not see it. There are electrical service lines within 40 ft of the landing zone, and they are about 40 feet high, and there is also a road nearby with traffic at the time. Being able to hear, but not being able to see the drone, I panicked a little, and instead of zooming the GPS map and use that to get closer, I just steered away from power lines and road, and while I am still hoping to visually locate it, it goes into auto landing mode. I could clearly see it activate the landing LED before it landed in the top of an Oak tree. It was easy to locate as all the lights were flashing again, and I retrieved it early next morning as there was no rain in the forecast, and it had sustained zero damage, other than having run the battery completely flat. The battery did recharge, but not sure how it affected capacity.

Any insight into the nav light issue is appreciated!

You might be able to change it in settings and also, sometimes, there is a button on the remote controller to turn the landing lights on or off. You might try that also. Not sure what else could be the issue.

 

[CaptPete]

You might be able to change it in settings and also, sometimes, there is a button on the remote controller to turn the landing lights on or off. You might try that also. Not sure what else could be the issue.

Thanks, for responding. Problem is the nav lights stopped when They were most needed.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Might be a standard way to save battery, but the nav / status lights wouldn't draw much at all anyway.
We don't fly at night, but can;t say I have ever seen the nav or staus lights go off when flying very seldomly down to 20% or less.
I've probably only ever flown down to 10% / 15% a few times though, but just haven't ever seen that happen. (I fly an M1P.)

I can't see why a mod won't / can't move this thread to the general M2 section (this could apply to P or Z models ?), no crash was involved so it doesn't really belong here anyway.
@Thomas B . . . @dirkclod ?

 

[Thomas B]

Might be a standard way to save battery, but the nav / status lights wouldn't draw much at all anyway.
We don't fly at night, but can;t say I have ever seen the nav or staus lights go off when flying very seldomly down to 20% or less.
I've probably only ever flown down to 10% / 15% a few times though, but just haven't ever seen that happen. (I fly an M1P.)

I can't see why a mod won't / can't move this thread to the general M2 section (this could apply to P or Z models ?), no crash was involved so it doesn't really belong here anyway.
@Thomas B . . . @dirkclod ?

Excellent thought. Moving to General M2 section now.

 

[CaptPete]

Might be a standard way to save battery, but the nav / status lights wouldn't draw much at all anyway.
We don't fly at night, but can;t say I have ever seen the nav or staus lights go off when flying very seldomly down to 20% or less.
I've probably only ever flown down to 10% / 15% a few times though, but just haven't ever seen that happen. (I fly an M1P.)

Thanks to the mods for moving the post!

I may test again under controlled conditions to see if it is a bug/defect in mine - thanks for your input!

 

[JSmith731]

I don't know if I said this before but you can program a button on the remote controller to turn the nav lights off or on. You might have hit it by accident.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

• The two bottom buttons (C1 and C2) can be configured to turn on / off the light (as mentioned). If it goes off automatically at a certain battery percentage (which I've never seen nor heard of), then at least you have the button to try and turn it back on.

It's not clear to me from the OP if you had tried turning it back on again, using any method.​

• Now that you know this is a risk, when you fly at night now, you can a) pick a take off point with no power lines or other obstacles above the Home Point, and b) set a RTH height to be above all such obstacles (may require you visit the location during the day to see how high all obstacles are).

So at the very least, if you lose your way or the bottom AUX lights go out, you can RTH, which will first raise it to a safe height, then go over the HP before descending to a spot known to have no obstacles.​

• Pardon if someone's already said this, but I don't see it. It is best to not let your drone battery get to the fail-safe landing point, but it is especially true in certain conditions. Nighttime is one of those conditions, when you can't see the obstacles it might land into (for you to steer away from, because you do still have some lateral control of the craft even when in forced landing).

Landing before finishing the shot, replacing the battery, and re-launching sounds like a PITA, but isn't it worth not having the drone land in the tree? (Or worse: you were lucky it did not damage.)​

Chris

 

[JSmith731]

I believe

I don't know if I said this before but you can program a button on the remote controller to turn the nav lights off or on. You might have hit it by accident.

I believe it's the buttons on the back of the remote controller. I think they're called C1 and C2 maybe.

 

[Thomas B]

I believe

I believe it's the buttons on the back of the remote controller. I think they're called C1 and C2 maybe.

See the post above yours... configurable, not altready programmed as such.

 

[CaptPete]

Thanks JSmith731 & Not A Speck Of Cereal, with your help I believe I see exactly what happened! I was resting the controller on an uneven hard surface while operating from a balcony, so the C1 or C2 could easily have been accidentally depressed. In hindsight I should have known this before flying at night.

It is too tempting to "just do it" when you have a complex gadget whose basic operation is simple. I have logged a little over 100 flights with the mavic 2, and still a lot too learn - just wish the default controller was compatible with the flight simulator.

Stay healthy, all of you & many thanks!

 

[ff22]

It does sound like the light-off may have been accidentally triggered. I would think that having the lights go off automatically at a certain battery level would be a disaster waiting to happen while flying at night. The pilot would have no way of seeing the drone, making landing a really big problem.

 

[CaptPete]

It does sound like the light-off may have been accidentally triggered. I would think that having the lights go off automatically at a certain battery level would be a disaster waiting to happen while flying at night. The pilot would have no way of seeing the drone, making landing a really big problem.

There was an "out" that I did not take, basically because a little panic set in when the lights went off without knowing why. I could have zoomed the GPS map and used it to get within visible range.

I beat the odds managing a soft landing in a treetop and my 60+ body managed to retrieve it uneventfully. There was at least an 80% chance that the outcome was worse considering obstacles and salt water nearby.

 

[ff22]

There was an "out" that I did not take, basically because a little panic set in when the lights went off without knowing why. I could have zoomed the GPS map and used it to get within visible range.

I beat the odds managing a soft landing in a treetop and my 60+ body managed to retrieve it uneventfully. There was at least an 80% chance that the outcome was worse considering obstacles and salt water nearby.

My even older body might not have liked that at all. But then again, trying to go cross-country skiing, I slipped in any icy parking lot in Italy last month and knocked myself out!

Glad you/drone were no worse for wear.

 

[cpfninja11]

I know its not great for the battery but I have flown to 0% before and the lights have never turned off on their own. Even if you accidentally triggered the front LEDs to turn off, the rear status LEDs will never turn off unless you have the Mavic 2 Enterprise. The Front LEDs are also configured to turn off while recording or taking a Photograph.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

The Front LEDs are also configured to turn off while recording or taking a Photograph.

For video too ?
I knew they went out for photos, but wasn't aware this also happens for video . . . haven't really taken time to consciously notice !!

 

[Johnmcl7]

For video too ?
I knew they went out for photos, but wasn't aware this also happens for video . . . haven't really taken time to consciously notice !!

Yes, by default the front lights will go off while recording video.

 

[DanMan32]

Landing lights don't do much for the AC to see, though it helps some to be seen.
Lights have an Auto setting where they turn on when getting close to the ground.

 

[CaptPete]

I know its not great for the battery but I have flown to 0% before and the lights have never turned off on their own. Even if you accidentally triggered the front LEDs to turn off, the rear status LEDs will never turn off unless you have the Mavic 2 Enterprise. The Front LEDs are also configured to turn off while recording or taking a Photograph.

I thought I had the answer, but you just introduced another possibility: The video was recording and facing in my direction during the whole episode. I often neglect turning off video, and often just shut down the battery after landing. Thanks for the tip, it could well have been why it became invisible!

 

[DanMan32]

You would think that the video recordings would automatically be stopped and closed/finalized when AC is powered off normally.